With dwindling TV numbers, and Game 2 yet to be sold out, people are questioning whether State of Origin has lost its magic.
According to Paul Kent from The Daily Telegraph, a good old fashioned fight is the spite needed to spice up this Origin series.
Kent’s colleague David Riccio agrees, telling Andrew Voss that Origin no longer has the “intensity” it once had.
“Yeah, I do agree with Kenty (Paul Kent), I think the aggression has definitely gone out of it,” Riccio said on 1170 SEN Breakfast.
“I think it’s a by-product of players being too afraid to speak their mind, and also spruik the game in a fashion that we probably haven’t seen since Paul Gallen.
“If we recall how 'Gal' (Gallen) used to fire up the Queenslanders, and before that it was Wally Lewis.
“I’ll say this - Game 2 isn’t sold out yet.
“If we had back pages and front pages of angst and intensity, and players calling out other players, it creates that attention of what State of Origin is.
“State against state, mate against mate, hate against hate.
“I think we’ve lost a bit of that.
“I think this game would have been sold out far beyond today, if we had that legitimate intensity, and willingness of players to speak their mind.”
Queensland lead the Origin series 1-0 after an upset win in the opener in Adelaide last week.
New South Wales will need to win Game 2 tonight at ANZ Stadium in Sydney to keep the series alive.
You can hear all the action live on SEN from 7pm AEDT with your choice of three calls.
CALL 1: Blues Radio - Parochial NSW call with Jimmy Smith and Steve Roach
CALL 2: Maroons Radio - Parochial QLD call with Mark Braybrook, Gary Belcher & Scott Sattler
CALL 3: Origin Live - Neutral call with Joel Caine, Matt Ballin, Brett Kimmorley
